The school day from that point on was pretty uneventful. Andrew was talking my ear off about how hot my brother was—almost completely forgetting that he choked him half to death—and I almost felt tempted to hit him myself. I mean, yeah, my brother had went through quite the growth spurt, but I didn't want to hear about it! He was my own flesh and blood for Christs sake!
But, on another note, Christina had been giving me the evil eye for a large portion of the day, and while it didn't bother me, I couldn't help but think it was annoying. I mean, if she's going to stare at me all day, she could at least be an attractive guy and not some easy skank. Sadly though, the scene from earlier didn't seem to have an effect on her attraction to my brother. It's not like I hadn't expected it, but come on; he made it clear that he didn't want her, and she's still chasing him. If I didn't know any better, I'd call her desperate—which would be a huge shock to everyone, I assure you—but I already had enough problems with her, and I wasn't looking to start anymore.
Now, it was seventh period, and everyone had gathered in the cafeteria and was getting ready to eat. The word had spread fast about what happened earlier—again, shocker—and everyone was either looking at me, my brother or Christina to see what would happen next. Andrew didn't really like the attention—something about him not wanting to be caught checking out my brother in his not so discreet manner—but he coped well with it. At least, he had in the beginning of the lunch period.
“I don't understand what the big deal is. So, your older brother transfers into the school and he just happens to be a total stud. That doesn't mean everyone has to stare at us like we have a virus!”
I shrugged, trying to ignore how dramatic he was being. “It could be worse. They could be ignoring us.” He seemed to notice the sarcasm in my voice because he rolled his eyes, causing me to break out into a small amount of laughter. Normally, I was happy and energetic at lunch, but with so much whispering and staring going on, it was hard for me to get a chance to enjoy myself. But what person couldwhen rumors were flying a mile a minute? Aside from the people spreading them, of course.
As if right on cue, Cassandra walked into the lunch room with a strange look on her face, and she hurriedly walked over to where Andrew and I were sitting. Without even giving me a chance to say hello to her, she began to speak. “That'syour brother?” I nodded, already annoyed with the topic of conversation. “I wish you would have told me he was transferring. I would have taken a little more effort in getting dressed today.”
Looking at the outfit she had on, I raised a brow. She was wearing a pair of black tights under her uniform, her skirt had barely covered her butt, but I guess that tights made up for that. Her shirt was white and it hugged her bust a little too tightly, and her black blazer was open. As usual, her blond hair was hanging over her shoulders, and her make up was just enough to make her eyes stand out—but not enough to make her look like Christina on one of her 'good' days. Her shoes were was pair of slip on Vans—black of course—and for the most part, she looked like a curvier version of me. Why she was complaining, I'd never know. I would kill to look like her—or at least have her height. I had a small five-foot-three figure and she stood at almost five-foot-eight. While being short had it's benefits, it also had its faults. Such as me not being to get through the crowds in the hall throughout the day, but that was a story for another day.
“Girl, you look fine. You really need to stop trying to make yourself look like a 'classy' version of Christina.”
My mouth fell open when Andrew said that. Of course it shouldn't have caught me off guard; Andrew and Cassandra were always arguing—whether or not they were serious, I'd never know. “Oh, shut up, Andrew. You're just mad because you know that you won't be getting any from him.”
“I'll have you know that I'm going to their house this weekend and we're going to have a-”
“-you're not going to have anything because you're not going.” They both stopped arguing and gave me a questioning look. “The last thing I need is you trying to feel up my brother. He wasn't even trying this morning; if you piss him off enough, there's no doubt in my mind that he'll try and succeedto hurt you.” I bit my lip and picked up one of the french fries off of my tray. “Plus, I'm pretty sure with your feminine nature, it wouldn't really be all that hard for him to figure out that you're gay.”
Not seeming to care, Andrew grinned and ran a hand through his blonde hair. “I'm just saying; if he's being a closeted gay like myself, then I can bring him out. It couldn't be that hard.” Looking behind me, he bit his lip and moaned to himself. “Those muscles... I can picture them sweating as he thrusts in and out and-”
“-again, I don't want to hear your fantasies about my brother. It's just... Wrong.” Shuddering at the thought, I turned around and watched as my brother made his way to the lunch line; people literally parting like the Red Sea at the sight of him. I kind of felt tempted to roll my eyes, but instead, I simply looked away and continued to eat my food. Yeah, my brother had caused an uproar on his first day back with his 'freakish good looks' and his 'I don't give a damn' demeanor, but that didn't mean I had to act like I liked it. Things were complicated enough without him, and now that he was here, things would only get worse.
Don't get me wrong, I didn't hate my brother—well, not completely—I just didn't like that he thought the world revolved around him. He was invading myspace at one of the most random times of the year, and he expected me not to be angry with that?
My appetite had completely disappeared by the time he made his way over to the table with a group of followers behind him. Some of the people behind him probably had no idea who he was—let alone who I was—so the fact that they had even considered making their way over to where I was sitting pissed me off even more than Trace's grand entrance had. I had opened my mouth to tell him go sit with someone else, but Andrew spoke up before I got the chance to. “Hey, Trace. What brings you to our humble abode?”
Without answering, he placed his food down and made room for everyone who was with him to sit down. They pushed and shoved each other to get closest to Trace, and when that happened, I stood up and walked away from the table; ignoring the calls of the people who were sitting there. I had just barely made it out of the cafeteria when someone grabbed my arm and pulled me into their chest. Part of me thought it was Trace, and I had begun to push him away, but when I breathed in, I stopped.
'Polo. . .'
Looking up at the brunette in front of me, I took a step back and waited for him to say something. “Come with me.” With that, he walked out of the cafeteria and in the direction of the tables outside. I didn't want to follow him; it was almost ten degrees outside, and getting colder. Plus, I was wearing a skirt; why the hell would I follow him? 'Yes, because you're wardrobe is the main reason you're so hesitant to follow him outside.' Mentally slapping myself for thinking that way, I shook my head and looked over at Haydn.
He seemed to be reading my mind because he rolled his eyes and grabbed my hand, pulling me outside with him against my will. I was in shock for a few seconds, but I quickly regained my composure and managed to pull away once we reached the empty school parking lot. “Is there any particular reason you pulled me outside into the freezing cold? We could have just talked inside.”
“Yeah, but where's the fun in that?” Grinning at his own stupidity, he sat down on the stairs that lead to the cafeteria and began to look out at the cars in front of us. When he didn't say anything, I sighed and turned around to walk away, knowing that this was a waste of time. He hadn't said anything to me the day after he broke into my room, so why would he now?
Again, as if reading my mind, he let out a sigh and began to talk. “You know if you walk away you'll never know what I wanted to talk to you about.” You could hear it in his voice that he was probably bluffing; saying what he knew he had to so he could get to me, but I couldn't help but let my curiosity take over.
I stopped in my tracks and turned to face him. “Then how about you stop looking at the cars and start talking?”
He shrugged. “I don't know how to word it.”
This of course, caused my skepticism to shoot up, and me to cross my arms. 'One of the biggest ass holes in the school was having a hard time wording his sentence correctly? If I didn't know any better, you'd think he was developing a crush on me—which I doubt.'“So just say it the simple way and get it over with.” He said nothing. In fact, he actually looked away from me and ran a hand through his dark hair; something I noticed was common with guys when they were either nervous, annoyed or just confused. “Haydn.” Looking up at the sound of his name, he sighed and shook his head. What he said next actually confused me even further.
“I heard someone broke into your room.”
“What do you mean you heard? Is this your way of admitting it was you-?”
“-I have nothing to admit, Adriana.” The finality in his tone almost scared me, but after what happened with Trace, I knew that if I acted like I was scared, he'd know I was. And I couldn't let that happen. “All I'm saying is, maybe you should lock your windows at night so scum like that don't try anything again.”
And then I caught it; he was angry. I couldn't understand why though. He was the first one to break into my room, and while he may deny it, doesn't that make him just as bad as Trace? Yeah, Trace was a member of my family, but that hardly excused his actions; I almost kind of hated that I had to call him my brother after everything he's done.
But none of that mattered. What mattered at the moment was the angry look on Haydn's face. “How did you know someone broke into my room?” I hesitated at the end, trying not to say 'again'.
Shrugging as if it had been no big deal, he made himself a little more comfortable on the stairs and completely ignored the snow that continued to fall over us. I was going to repeat my question to see if he'd bother answering this time, but before I could, I felt someone walking up behind me and quickly push me behind them. Nearly stumbling and falling in the virgin snow, I looked up at the all too familiar head of blonde hair and I narrowed my eyes. “What are you doing, Trace-”
“-what the f*ck are you doing talking to my sister?” His voice was ice cold and full of hatred, and luckily, it wasn't directed at me. But of course, I wasn't given the chance to relax because Haydn didn't answer his question either—which only further agitated him. “I know you're not deaf, pretty boy. Answer my question.”
He simply rolled his eyes and locked eyes with mine. “We'll talk about this later, Love.”
I nodded, hesitant, and watched as he walked back inside the school; nearly throwing the doors open as he did so. It worried me that the two of them seemed to hate each other so much when they barely knew each other, but I guess that was just Trace being the over protective brother that he is. 'Only took him four years, but better late then never I guess. . .'Still, that didn't excuse his cussing, and I wanted to know why his voice had been so venomous. So, being the curious little flower that I was, I walked in front of him, arms still crossed, and narrowed my eyes. “What the hell was that about, Trace? We were just talking.”
Looking at me with one of the dirtiest looks ever, he took a step closer to me and made sure to poke out his chest in attempt to make himself look more threatening. I wouldn't lie, I was a little bit intimidated, but I was his sister; he wouldn't lay a finger on me. Plus, he had done the same thing last night and he didn't do a thing, so I knew he wouldn't now. At least, I hope not. “Yeah, I saw what you were doing. My only question is whywere you doing it.”
Taking a step away from him, I sat in the spot where Haydn had been only a few minutes ago and crossed my legs so the wind wouldn't blow up my skirt. My motive behind doing this was to piss him off enough to see what he'd do if he didn't get what he wanted. It wasn't my smartest idea, I knew that much, but it was the only way I'd see what he was capable of. “We're friends,” I exaggerated, again, just for effect, “friends tend to have these little things called conversations-”
“-well, that was your last one with him. I don't want you anywhere near him, got it?”
“Excuse me, but when did you become my boss?” It was then that a small crowd began to form around us, and while I may have ignored it, I knew I was going to regret letting them see this little dispute later on. “You've been gone for four years, Trace. Four, f*cking years! And you think you can tell me what to do? The lastthing you are to me is a boss, let alone a brother!”
His body stiffened at my words; almost as if I had hit a nerve. “So you'll respect that ass wipe, but not your own brother?” Laughing to himself, he shook his head and turned to walk away. “I always knew leaving you with mom would have turned you into a slut.”
My mouth fell agape and I stared at him in awe. “Well, I'm sof*cking sorry that I didn't turn out to be some street trash who couldn't handle being on his own so he had to break into a house full of people that don't want him!”
And that's when it happened.
His hand came in contact with my face and I heard a few gasps coming from the crowd of people around us. As if he had instantly regretted it, his facial expression had softened and he reached out to touch me, only causing me to flinch backwards and stumble against the stairs; nearly falling over. “Adriana, I-”
“-save it.” And without giving him the opportunity to speak, I turned in the direction of the school, and I ran.